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Tonight, the glitzy Charity Preview; Saturday, the public gets its turn at Detroit auto show

Cobo Center is the site of the North American International Auto Show, which kicks off with the annual Charity Preview the night before the show opens to the public.

About the auto show

Charity Preview: Jan. 17. Tickets are $350 per person, $340 of which is tax deductible. The 25th anniversary show will kick off following the preview with "An Evening with Sheryl Crow." After the event, a Studio 25 afterglow will be at Cobo with separate tickets for sale to Charity Preview ticket-holders.Public show: Jan. 18-26. Tickets are $13 for adults, $7 for children 7-12 and seniors. Children 6 and under are free.Auto Show Shuffle: A 5K run/walk kicking off from the Detroit Port Authority, running along the Detroit riverfront and Dequindre Cut, then returning to the Port Authority. For information about the event, contact Ben Kohrman at bkohrman@michiganfitness.org or call 517-908-3833.

The North American International Auto Show opens to the public Saturday, but first, the stars of the show — the shiny new vehicles taking residence throughout the Cobo Center exhibition hall — will meet a few thousand guests tonight amid the glitz and glamour of the Charity Preview.

Tickets to the event were still available early this afternoon, at $350 a person. There are 15,000 tickets sold. Singer Sheryl Crow is scheduled to perform.

The public show kicks off at 9 a.m. Saturday and runs through Jan. 25.

Beforehand, the annual Auto Show Shuffle, a 5K run/walk highlighting the walkability and bikeability of Detroit's trails, starts at 8 a.m. at the Detroit Port Authority. The runners and walkers traverse the Detroit riverfront and the Dequindre Cut.

Auto show organizers expect similar numbers to last year's public attendance for the show itself; the numbers topped 750,000 in 2013. Loomis Sayles & Co. reported in 2013 the auto show drew an estimated $365 million into the city.

Have one last sneak peek at some of the coolest sights we found this week.

• The Michigan Hall will feature creative mobility exhibitors, including Equus Automotive, Via Motors,the Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix and the College for Creative Studies, as well as a food court and racetrack.